U.S.-China Foundation For International Exchanges Honors Hearst Magazines International President & CEO George J. Green With Marco Polo Award.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 2004

First Publishing Executive To Receive This Honor

George J. Green, president and CEO of Hearst Magazines International (HMI), is the 2004 recipient of the Marco Polo Award, it has been announced by the U.S.-China Foundation for International Exchanges. The award is given to foreign business leaders who play a significant role in China's economic development and who demonstrate a commitment to improving Chinese society by sponsoring volunteer experts for humanitarian assignments. Green will accept the award, named for the Venetian traveler who first promoted friendship and trade between China and the West, at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on May 20, 2004 for his significant contribution to consumer publishing in China. This marks the first time a publishing executive will receive the Marco Polo Award.

"I am extremely honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award," said Green. "Hearst Magazines International has made great progress in expanding our business in China and we look forward to continuing to develop new publishing opportunities. This honor not only recognizes the strength of our commitment to China, but the strong relationships that exist between the Chinese and American people."

Hearst Magazines International began operating in China in 1998. Today, six of Hearst's magazines, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Harper's BAZAAR, Good Housekeeping, CosmoGIRL!, and Seventeen are published there.

Green joined Hearst Magazines in 1984 as executive vice president/group publishing director and was elected president of Hearst Magazines International (HMI) in September, 1989, when the division was formed by The Hearst Corporation. In his capacity as president of HMI, Green is responsible for 140 licensed or joint-ventured editions of Hearst Magazines in 47 countries in 30 languages for distribution in more than 100 countries. Green also serves as Executive Vice President of Hearst Magazines and Vice President of The Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings, Inc., and Hearst Communications, Inc. He is the former president and chief operating officer of The New Yorker Magazine, Inc., where his 22-year career encompassed nearly every phase of the magazine's operations.

A graduate of Yale University, Green has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) since 1976, serving as its chairman from 1981 to 1983, and served as president of the International Federation of the Periodical Press from 1991 to 1993. In 1996, he was elected to the Board of Directors of The National Magazine Company, Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Green has received many awards during his career, including The Henry Johnson Fisher Award in 1998, which honors a magazine leader for significant and long-standing contributions to the publishing industry in the United States and The ACE International Publishing Personality of the Year Award in 1999 in the U.K.

Green joins a long list of distinguished American business leaders who have been honored with the Marco Polo Award since its inception in 1987, including John P. McConnell, Chairman and CEO of Worthington Industries, and John W. Snow, current Secretary of the Treasury for the U.S. and former Chairman and CEO of CSX. Other past award recipients include: Alex Trotman, Chairman and CEO of Ford; David Komansky, Chairman and CEO Merrill Lynch; Ralph Larsen, Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Fred Langhammer, Chairman and CEO of Estee Lauder; John Kluge, Chairman and CEO of Metro Media; Raymond Gilmartin, Chairman and CEO of Merck; Dr. George Fisher, Chairman and CEO of Kodak; and former United States President George A. Bush.

About U.S.-China Foundation for International Exchange

Based in San Francisco, the U.S.-China Foundation for International Exchanges was established by the Chinese government in 1957 to encourage cooperation between the United States and China. The Foundation conducts exchange programs between the United States and China with related services to promote communications and cooperation and offers sponsoring U.S. corporations the opportunity of directly participating with the leaders of today's China to benefit Chinese society as well as Sino-American business relations. The Foundation works in partnership with and is supported by the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP), a nationwide non-government organization that coordinates exchange programs between China and industrialized nations.

About Hearst Magazines International

Hearst Magazines International's 140 editions are published in 51 countries in 30 languages for distribution in more than 100 countries. Hearst Magazines, a division of The Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com), is one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines with a total of 18 U.S. titles. In Great Britain, a wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited, publishes 18 magazines.

Hearst Magazines International includes 52 editions of Cosmopolitan, 18 editions of Harper's BAZAAR, 14 editions of Good Housekeeping, 15 editions of Seventeen, 12 editions of Popular Mechanics, 10 editions of Esquire, eight editions of CosmoGIRL!, several editions of Redbook, House Beautiful and Country Living, and the first international edition of O, The Oprah Magazine.